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Directed by McG. Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox, David Strathairn, Anthony Mackie, Ian McShane, Kimberley Williams, Robert Patrick. Drama/Historical/Sports Synopsis: A drama based on the true story of the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team that was devastated by a tragic plane crash in November of 1970, tracing its resurrection as a school, team, and town through the eyes of the school president and new coach that began the rebirth of the football program.

For the first time since I wore a younger man's clothes and waited in line for over an hour in the Boston chill to gain a seat to Beverly Hills Cop , I treated myself to a big budget Hollywood movie on its opening night nationwide...and the funny thing is, I didn't intend to. Its just that Rocky Balboa was surprisingly sold out, even at the final showing on a dull Friday night in a mid sized town in a mid sized state in fly-over- country three days after its release. You see, I avoid opening night for some theater movies because I like to stretch out in the theater. Anyway, my next big surprise was that We Are Marshall was not sold out, or even close to it on its opening night. In fact, there were only a handful of people.

That's too bad, because this one should have been sold out, folks.

Many of you, particularly if you are college football fans, have heard of the devastating plane crash carrying almost the entire Marshall team, coaching staff, and boosters from the area (Huntington, W.VA). It's mentioned, even just in passing, almost every time the now successful Marshall football team plays on ESPN and, of course, every time there is a tragedy involving a sports team in travel, such as the Oklahoma St. basketball plane that crashed a few years ago.

But, many of us, like me, did not know the complete, real story and this film does an excellent job of telling it, entertaining us, tugging on our heart strings and even making us laugh once in a while. No mean feat when you're dealing with such a terrible topic.

The film starts on the afternoon of Nov. 14, 1970, as the Marshall team drops a heartbreaker on the road at East Carolina. You will first notice that the film is pretty to see, beautifully shot, and those of us old enough to remember even a little bit of that era will appreciate the authenticity of the '70's feel. We are quickly introduced to the team and coach, whom the movie smartly assumes that we as viewers know are doomed. There is not much time to get to know them individually in the film, but enough time is spent in a quality way to let us know that these young men-save the afros, long hair, plaid pants, bushy sideburns, et\.- were no different than the guys you knew in college: whether that was the 50', 60's, 80's (my college time), 90's, right now or in the future. Full of life, mischief, dreams. Yes, we empathize, and with no sentimental overkill. 

The crash scene is well filmed, not exploitive in any way, but you will feel the immediate loss and tragedy. I think McG deserves special kudos for this scene, particularly knowing that this film would premiere in Huntington.

Just that quickly, the film changes which is an excellent metaphor. We are introduced to the main characters: the new coach ( Matthew McConaughey Failure to Launch, Two for the Money); the school president (David Stratharin Missing in America ); the bitter father of one of the deceased players (Ian McShane Deadwood) ; and the returning team captain who was not on the flight due to an injury (Anthony Mackie Haven) .

The story follows the path from there that you would expect, which is no criticism considering this is a real life story that most will be familiar with before they see it. That does not mean it does not keep you involved, it does. McConaughey does a great job, despite the annoying speech pattern he employs for his character. He injects humor into the part without compromising on the tragedy and spirit of rebirth that goes on throughout the movie. I'm not a regular viewer of Deadwood, but I can see the hype about McShane, he is wonderful in this.

I'm a little surprised that this movie, evidently, did not do well in its early release in the theater, but don't let that fool you into thinking its not a darn good feel good flick. Because it is, and there is nothing wrong with that. 

Directed by Rod Holcomb. Starring Scott Glenn, Zachary Ty Bryan, Theo Rossi, Jeff Roop, Corey Sevier, Adam Grimes, Jake Busey, Richard Zeppieri. Drama/Historical/Sports/TV Movie. Synopsis: The story of the 1950 Army football team and its involvement in a historic cheating scandal and breaking of the honor code. The scandal ended the West Point careers of 30 football players, bo other cadets, and shocked the nation during the height of the Korean War.

This is a very good historical drama that is, surprisingly, relatively absent from the consciousness of many die hard college football fans (like me)-and not just because it happened more than 50 years ago. Believe me, a lot of die hard college football fans can tell you plenty about Red Granges' epic 6 touchdown effort or the Four Horseman of Notre Dame, both of which happened decades prior to the events in this movie. 

Code Breakers is made by ESPN, but those of you who are not sports/football fans per se shouldn't worry, this is a quality drama and not shot just for jocks. And, its not the first time (The Junction Boys) ESPN has hit paydirt with a movie based on a historical period of college football.

The film is set in 1950, with the West Point (Army) football team coming off of two straight undefeated seasons, and heavy favorites for a third, a feat then unmatched in college football. Army was, unlike today, one of the glamour teams in college football with only Notre Dame being comparable in the national consciousness. The euphoria of the victory in WWII was still fresh, yet the specter of Korea looms large. The football team was coached by the legendary Earl "Red" Blaik (Scott Glenn Training Day Urban Cowboy), well on his way to college coaching immortality and helped by an impressive staff that included future NFL coaching legend Vince Lombardi (Richard Zeppieri)

Holcomb does a great job of bringing this all to us and setting the mood in the first few minutes of the movie with a very good replica of the West Point campus and good use of period newsreels. The cast is ensemble, as you might guess, but the most important characters for the purpose of introducing us to the scandal are George Holbrook (Jeff Roop), a key football player who struggles with some of his subjects and his swim team roommate Brian Nolan (Zachary Ty Bryan). The two are best friends and mutually worried about their grades amidst the incredible pressure and expectations of the Academy.

Holbrook is introduced to a ring of cadets, including several key football players, who are able to share questions and answers with each other to get borderline academic qualifying players over the hump. The main players in telling the story of the ring, which was so sophisticated and ingrained that there was actually a member of the ring on the honor committee, include the quarterback-and coach's son-Bob Blaik (Corey Seveir) and the aggressive star running back DeSantis (Theo Rossi)

Holbrook reluctantly gets drawn into the cheating, though he, like so many of the cadets involved, did not directly benefit from cheating yet did break the code to help others, and ultimately confides the existence of the cheating ring to Nolan, who in turn goes through his own struggle in deciding how to proceed. I never want to play spoiler, but if you want to see this movie, even if you know nothing about this story, you know that the cheating ring was exposed just from the title. 

But, without giving you a overview of what happens next, I can do it justice by saying that it is done in such a way as to make it ambiguous, at least to me, as to what the truly honorable thing to do and the personal struggle some of these cadets went through in reaching their decisions, honorable or not.

The desire of some of the players not to want to tell on their friends-some of whom were literally weeks away from going to the war in Korea after graduation-is done in such way as to not be superficial or cheesy. On the other hand, the necessity of upholding the honor code and to tell the truth is presented with equal strength.

The acting is excellent. Scott Glenn (Urban Cowboy, Silence of the Lambs, Courage Under Fire)  is incredible as Coach Blaik. The young actors who portray  the cadets seem to me, an Army veteran, to be legitimate military men and, as you would guess, an ESPN produced film is righteous with the football as well. To me, Bryan, Roop, Sevier, and Rossi were all excellent in their roles and brought their characters to life as well as you could expect. The rest of the cast is good, too, with Jake Busey probably being the most recognizable for the obvious reason that he is an exact replica of his father.  

Some of you know that special features in a DVD are important to me, and the special features in this film are an A+. They are informative and substantive. There is a nice feature on the actual team complete with contemporary news footage, a touching feature on both the Army and Navy teams leading up to their big game in 2001 in the wake of the terrorists attacks on America, and several excellent interviews with famous Army men and West Point graduates such as Norman Schwarzkopf, several West Point Graduates who were there during the scandal such as Bill Yeoman, whom some of you college football fans will remember as the successful head coach of the University of Houston in the '80's, 1959 Heisman Trophy winner Pete Dawkins, and even some notable Navy men, such as Roger Staubach and John McCain. All of this, plus the standard stuff: interviews with the cast and on the set, director's commentary.

The special features last as long or longer than the film and you just couldn't ask for more if you are interested in this movie, the making of the movie, learning more about the story, or the Army-Navy football rivalry.

The only complaint I have about the film is that it could have done more in telling us what happened specifically to some of the characters who were featured. Instead, we got general stuff at the end like "..so and so went on to serve with distinction in the U.S. Army after leaving West Point..."    But, I do understand that this is still a touchy subject a half century later, some of these men are still alive, the facts are undoubtedly still in dispute, and I would guess that not everyone who was involved in this affair, at any level, was on board for the movie. So, its a small complaint.

Most movies that make it to my favorites have to be viewed at least twice (how good can it really be if I don't want to watch it again....and again...?), but Code Breakers made it after one viewing.

For what that's worth.     

Directed by Lexi Alexander. Starring Elijah Wood, Charlie Hunnam, Claire Forlani, Leo Gregory. 

Drama/Action/Sports.Synopsis: A young journalism student is unfairly expelled from Harvard and travels to London to stay with his sister and her British husband in the aftermath. There he is introduced to the world of English football and joins a fanatical group of young man fiercely loyal to the West Ham United Football Club. He finds strong friendship, happiness, and loss as he discovers for the first time that there is a time to stand up and fight for yourself. 

Well, I took a look at this one with my hopes up but prepared to be disappointed coming so soon on the heels of what, I thought, was a similarly themed film called The Football Factory. I don't know, maybe its just my love of soccer, or the fact that the World Cup is coming soon, or both, or neither, that drew me to seek out another film about soccer (known in this film, and throughout 95% of the world, as football), but I can tell you that I'm glad I did.

First, this movie is definitely told from an American perspective, so cancel any worries you might have of Iowa born Elijah Wood trying to sound like a tough Englishman. We meet both of the two main characters in the opening scenes, first brash, loud mouthed Pete (Charlie Hunnam) who is leading his group of tough young guys in a heated yelling match against a group of equally tough young guys  in  London subway. The verbal taunts quickly lead to a  brawl and we leave the scene with the image of Pete head butting a rival into submission...quick fade to Cambridge, Massachusetts and the tony ground of Harvard where Matt Buckner (Wood Sin City) is reluctantly and involuntarily leaving the school, having been expelled just shy of graduation. We learn then that his roommate might have, in fact, been the guilty one and Matt is just taking the fall.

Matt hops on a plane headed to Britain to visit his sister, Shannon (Claire Forlani The Rock) and her British husband, who has a brother named Pete. Yes, you guessed it, our gang fighting friend from the subway is being told to entertain unimposing a relatively meek Matt. Pete warms up quickly to Matt, aside from Matt's annoying habit of referring to English football as "soccer" and the fact that he is a Yank.

Pete takes Matt into the world of diehard English football fans, introducing him to the Green Street Elite (GSE), a group of young men (called a "firm") who are united by their allegiance to the West Ham Football Club. Matt adjust quickly to the pub oriented, beer swilling cameraderie among his new friends in spite of their propensity to fight other "firms". We get to see the literal metamorphis of Matt as he takes enthusiastically to Pete's way of life, if with some reluctance from one of Pete's boys in the firm. We also see that Pete has more depth than we would have thought from the opening scenes. Both characters are empathetic, and drive the whole film. We believe the unlikly friendship that forms against the beer swilling, fighting backdrop of English football. I recently reviewed another film much like this one called The Football Factory. I thought this one was a little better because of the character development.

Like Football Factory, this film, to me, is not really about English football or sports in general. Its about what drives the maniacal fans and the bond between them, as well as with those who are just like them, but following other teams. There is some soccer action in this one, including some footage from the English League as well as a scene in which Matt is hapless as the goaltender against some 12 year olds coached by Pete.

The fight sequences, of which there are more than a couple, are well shot, set to music, and very believable. Alexander does a very good job with this aspect of the film. The acting is very good. As I said, the story revolves almost completely around the two main characters, but the supporting players carry the ball well. Claire Forlani (Meet Joe Black, The Rock) does well-although I wanted to wring her character's neck at times-as Matt's sister and it was not until the special features on the DVD that I realized that she is really British.

Some people might have a hard time buying Elijah Wood in a role that turns him into a "tough guy", but I think that was probably a point in casting. I think he does well and even flashes some of those creepy looks from his character in Sin City. Well done, Elijah.  

The one who has to take the prize, however, is definitely Charlie Hunnam. He is the center of almost every scene he's in. I don't believe it was necessarily written that way, but his creen presence and acting were perfect for this role. I imagine that some of our British friends might have an issue with his dialect, but it sure worked for me in this film.

A real good film. Plain and simple. 

Directed by John Sayles. Starring: John Cusack, Charlie Sheen, Michael Rooker, Clifton James, Michael Lerner, Christopher Lloyd, Kevin Tighe, David Strathairn, D.B. Sweeney, Gordon Clapp, John Mahoney, Richard Edson, Don Harvey, James Read, Studs Terkel, Nancy Travis. Drama/Sports/Historical. Synopsis: The story of the eight players for the Chicago White Sox who were alleged to have taken money from gamblers to throw the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds, still the biggest betting scandal in professional sports history in the U.S. Based on the book by Eliot Asinof. 

The best sports movie I've ever seen. And, that is saying something with Raging Bull (which is on my list of 10 best movies I've ever seen), A League Of Their Own, Hoosiers, The Longest Yard, Bang The Drum Slowly, Brian's Song among the contenders who would be on anyone's top list, not to mention the ones who would also get consideration on my list such as Rocky, Victory, A Shot At Glory, The Junction Boys, Glory Road, All The Right Moves and a few more.

Why do I feel so strongly about this flick? Well, several reasons. For the most part, it is historically accurate. It appeals well to baseball buffs and I think it plays well for those who are not as into the game, or maybe not the history of the game.It is extremely well directed and well acted. And, of course, like all truly great movies, it speaks on several levels, not just its topical theme, baseball, and its very effective in protraying the personal tragedy of some o the characters as well as their motivation.

The movie follows a well known historical occurrence, at least to baseball history buffs, of the betting scandal involving 8 members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox baseball team. The first thing to realize is that the '19 version of the White Sox likely would have gone down in history as one of the best teams ever if not for the scandal. The eight men were banned from baseball for life by the first Commissioner of baseball-an office created in large part due to the scandal-Kennesaw Landis.   To put it proper perspective, two members of the team are in the Hall of Fame (Ray Schalk, Eddie Collins), and probably as many as four more would have been if not for the scandal (Joe Jackson and Eddie Cicotte would have been locks for the Hall of Fame; George Weaver and Oscar Felsch would have likely gotten in, Claude Williams, Swede Risberg and Chick Gandil would have gotten consideration).

The other thing to realize is, though pro athletes have always made more-sometimes significantly more- than the average working man, it was not always the 'set for life' type of money they get today and back in those days only the absolute best players (e.g. Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker) were getting top dollar.

It was common for ball players to work other jobs in the offseason. The owner of the White Sox at that time, Charles Comiskey, was notoriously frugal and most of the White Sox-with the exception of Eddie Collins-were playing for well below market value.

Against that backdrop, the film opens with the Sox having just clinched the pennant and being told in the clubhouse by Comiskey's secretary that the champagne ready for them will serve as the bonus promised them by Comiskey if they won the pennant. The champagne is flat. (This is a powerful, concise scene in setting the mood and motivations of the players, but in point of fact, its incorrect as the 'champagne' episode occurred in 1917, when the Sox actually went on to win the Series, and not 1919. Baseball historians and buffs will be irritated, but its technically accurate and better serves the film, in my opinion ) 

We soon see Comiskey (Clifton James Bad News Bears In Breaking Training) telling pitcher Eddie Cicotte (David Strathairn Missing In America) that he will not get his contractual bonus for winning 30 games because he only won 29 . When Cicotte protests that Comiskey ordered manager Kit Gleason (John Mahoney Say Anything) to bench him for 5 starts after he'd won 29 games, which was done unfairly to keep him from winning 30 games. Comiskey's response? "29 is not 30, Eddie."

Wow. What a tightwad. Remember, this was pre-union, pre-free agency, pre- all of that good stuff. So, when gamblers start sniffing around to find out, just for the sake of conversation, what it might take to get the players from the heavily favored Sox to throw the Series against the Cincinnati Reds, there is a surprisingly receptive audience among the players, led by Arnold 'Chick' Gandil (Michael Rooker Slither Mississippi Burning) . The gamblers, including legendary gambler Arnold Rothstein (Michael Lerner Harlem Nights), Sport Sullivan (Kevin Tighe Road House) , Bill Burns (Christopher Lloyd Back To The Future) , and Billy Maharg (Richard Edson Do The Right Thing) are very pursuasive and soon have seven other members of the team agreeing, or at least not objecting to, getting 10 grand to throw the first game. The details of the fix are not clear and more than one gambler is making promises apart from the other. In addition to Gandil, Weaver (John Cusack Room 1408) , Jackson ( D.B. Sweeney Miracle at St. Anna) , 'Swede' Risberg (Don Harvery Casualties of War ), 'Happy' Felsch (Charlie Sheen Wall Street), 'Lefty' Williams (James Read),  andFred MacMullin (Gordon Clapp).

The plot moves quickly and the unorganized nature of the plot is made clear by director Sayles. (who also acts in the film as sportswriter Ring Lardner along with a fabulous performance by Studs Terkel as a fellow sports writer)  The actors do excellent jobs in bringing their characters to life and they become, at some level, empathetic. One thing movie buffs who are also sports fans always have an issue with is the realism of the athletic performances. Well, unless you see a movie where real athletes are trying to act (e.g. Any Given Sunday) , you're not going to get much better, particularly with Cusack, Sweeney, Sheen, and Strathairn, who all either had obviously played baseball at some point or did a fabulous job in preparation for their roles.

But, there are good performances all over the place, with Mahoney and Cusack working well together in their scenes in a much different setting than they both did in Say Anything. Christopher Lloyd and Lerner also standout among the gambling influence.

As far period pieces go, you hope to not see or hear any anachronisms, which kind of make you remember you're not looking at something that happened more than 8 decades ago. There are none here that I can find, the closest being the creative license taken with the champagne scene I mentioned as well as the trial scenes at the end, which in reality did not take place until 1921, as seven of the eight accused had played for the Sox throughout most of the 1920 season until the dam broke and they were suspended from baseball.

The film does a wonderufl job of showing the differences and divisions among the players, particularly colege educated Eddie Collins (Bill Irwin The Manchurian Candidate) and the eight players invloved, called "The Black Sox". It also delves into who got the money they were promised, who got less, and who got nothing. Some will criticize some of the depictions, as there is still some debate as to whether Jackson was in on the actual fix, though he did accept money according to most of the contemporary documents.

Likewise, it is undisputed that Weaver took no money but the allegation that he knew of the fix is still in some dispute  and, believe it or not those of you who are either not baseball fans or not familiar with the story, there is still debate and, as you read this, still active efforts to get the men reinstated, particularly in the cases of Jackson and Weaver. Jackson's reinstatement, without a doubt, would mean his immediate inclusion into the Baseball Hall Of Fame.

Incredible, all of these men have been deceased for at least 53 years (Weaver was the first to pass away in 1956) and the last surviving Black Sox player passed away in 1971 (either Gandil or Risberg, I cannot recall which at this time), yet there was a motion in Congress on this topic as recently as 2008.

As one last aside, I saw an interview with D.B. Sweeney several years back, and he was talking about the filming of this movie in 1988, and though all of the White Sox players from the team and everyone directly connected from the 'Chicago side' of the story was deceased by that time, there was one surviving member of the Cincinnati Reds, Hall of Famer Edd Roush, who came out to the stadium where the filming was going on of the baseball scenes. Sweeney said Roush-who was 94-was alert, outgoing, and friendly but did not see too well. When he shook hands with Sweeney, Roush looked at him and asked, "Young man, are you a White Sox or a Red?" Sweeney said he told him, "I'm a White Sox." Sweeney said Roush frowned, shook his finger at Sweeney and said, "You guys, we beat you fair and square!" And then he laughed.

I don't know, I just thought the story was neat.

I feel like this entry is more like a baseball fan than a movie review. So, here is the movie rview:

Its excellent, see it if you have not, see it again if you already have.   

The Football Factory (2004)

Directed by Nick Love. Starring: Danny Dyer, Frank Harper, Tamer Hassan, Roland Manookian, Neil Maskell, Dudley Sutton. Drama/Comedy.

Synopsis: A gritty urban drama looking at a group of English working class friends who live for football (soccer), rowdy partying, and fighting rival groups.

First off, American viewers who see this DVD on the shelf should know that it is a misnomer as far as its title, this movie is about soccer fans, the sport known as football everywhere else save the U.S and Canada. And, even getting by that, its also important to realize that this film has very little, if anything, to do with the sport itself. You won't see any scenes of actual action from the English Premier League spliced into the story, nor is the allegiance of the main characters to their favorite team (Chelsea) really developed or demonstrated in any way other than the willingness to fight about it.

Most who follow the world's most popular sport or have paid attention to international news casts over the years are well aware of the (mostly deserved) reputation of some English soccer fans, called "hooligans", who pepper their fanatic devotion to their team with drunkeness, violence, and boorish behavior. This film goes into that, but is non-judgmental and handles it with plenty of humor, most of it dark humor.

The protagonist of the story is Tommy Johnson (Danny Dyer) a working class man who is pushing 30 in age, going on 18 in maturity. Tommy also does the narrartive for us through the movie, as we follow his exploits-set up in the film against the backdrop of the next game for his beloved Chelsea team-along with some of his hard drinking, fight loving buddies, such as best pal Rod (Neil Maskell), group leader Billy Bright (Frank Harper), and Zeberdee (Roland Manookian). We see that the culture on display is passed from generation to generation, as Tommy's grandfather (Dudley Sutton) and his best buddy spend their time drinking, telling WW II stories, chasing women, and, of course, rooting for Chelsea.

The story is told in flashback, with several flashbacks within the main one, not to mention a lot of foreshadowing in the form of Tommy's dreams. The setting and the film are both gritty, but very real and you get a flavor of the lifestyle and the culture very easily. I don't think you have to be a fan of soccer, or knowledgeable about English culture at all to appreciate the characters. Change the accents, have the guys drink Bud instead of Newcastle, and the talk precipitating the fight could be about the Yankees/Red Sox or Celtics/Lakers or Packers/Bears rather than Chelsea/Milwall, and you know, or know of, guys like this.

However, you might not have seen it quite as raw as it shown here, there is a good deal of violence here, most of it by hand, which makes sense when you realize how hard it is to own a handgun in Britain, and almost all of it senseless. The primary means of income for Tommy and his buddies seems to be the casual dealing of Ecstasy, and you get the feeling that any serious profit from this business is frittered away on buying the lines of cocaine that most of the characters are inhaling in several scenes.

The setting and the plot sound rugged and possibly unappealing, but there is an underlying theme to the film, which to me, is the bonding/friendships between males. I know that is kind of vague, but I don't want to do more for fear of being a spoiler, especially of the ending which takes us to a place we might not have anticipated. In addition, there are plenty of laughs throughout.

Nick Love is obviously a very talented director, and those who watch the special features on the DVD will see that he made exactly the kind of movie that he intended to make, and your feeling when meeting some of the actors is that they really aren't all that far apart from their characters, at least in demeanor, and you have to think Love took this into account when casting the film.

A note of warning: there is excessive profanity in the film. I don't think I have ever seen a movie with more use of the "f-word" and, yes, I'm well aware of Scarface and Good Fellas(two of my all time faves), but neither of them comes close. Here it is almost non-stop and coming from all of the major and minor characters including some children. Also, the "c-word", rarely heard in American cinema and, therefore, maybe even more offensive to some, is also sprinkled liberally through the film, even coming from a couple of the rare female characters. And, for those of us with U.S. ears, understand that this isn't James Bond English you are going to hear in the movie, the Cockney dialect is, at least for me and I would think most Americans, a lot harder to follow than the higher class English dialect that we usually hear in movies. But, that could just be because we usually hear it. My point? Even though everyone in the movie is speaking-technically-the "Queen's English"- don't be surprised if you find yourself saying "What the hell did he just say?" a few times and hitting the back button.

I think this is a very good film, and well worth a shot for anyone interested in a very  well directed movie that tells a real story , and does not mind some messy violence, profanity, and a few disturbing cultural themes.   But, if you look up the phrase "its not for everyone" in the dictionary, you'll see a picture of this movie's box cover there. Hopefully, this blog has given you enough to determine for yourself if you think its worth a look for you or not. 

Starring Josh Lucas, Jon Voight, Derek Luke, Austin Nichols, Damsine Radcliffe, Al Shearer. Drama/Historical/Sports. Synopsis:The story based on the 1966 Texas Western (now theUniverstiy of Texas-El Paso/UTEP) University basketball team and its coach, Don Haskins, who became the first major college team to start five African-American players en route to its national championship victory over the Kentucky Wildcats in the final. Directed by James Gartner.

This one was certainly up my alley from the beginning: sports, history, and in a film, three things I love dearly. The first thing that you should know is that it is not a completely accurate historical rendition. Some of you know that I have railed against this typical Hollywood practice before, but I did not have a problem with it in Glory Road , as none of the ultimate facts are changed, nor are things simply made and/or attributed to specific real life people in a false fashion, and then passed off as fact. What the film does do, however, is take some dramatic license, not necessarily changing any facts or general themes, but either embellishing them or making them more dramatic in typical movie fashion.

The story is told from the point of view of legendary Hall of Fame coach Don Haskins (Josh Lucas), a young coach still in his early 30's whose previous head coaching experience was as a girl's high school coach. Haskins proceeds to start to recruit black players, fairly controversial at a time when no major college programs in the Deep South has a single black player, and many other schools across the country had only one or two. The movie gives the incorrect impression that the story unfolds over one year and also that the seven black players on the '66 team were the first at the school. In fact, Haskins had been coaching at Texas Western for three years before the championship team, and had black players on the roster prior to '66. (One of whom was Nolan Richardson, coach of the '94 champion Arkansas Razorbacks). This, however, is a common compression/composite tactic used in many historical movies, especially sports movies such as Eight Men Out.

The movie jumps right into the story, dealing with Haskins' single minded approach to building a successful basketball team, and it is clear that racial/social change is not the sole or even primary objective, either of the coach or the players. I especially appreciated the depiction of the players, both black and white, though the black players' characters were much more developed in the film. The players are not shown as one dimensional civil rights martyrs or jealous bigots, which would have been very easy to do. We see the players probably as they were in 1966: aware of the world and its realities and changes, but also young men who loved a sport, having fun, music, girls, and worried about their classes. This,  to me, made the film more real and I empathized with them even more than I knew I would going into the picture.

All the young actors playing the team do a good job, you will find something in most of them that will remind you or yourself or someone you know/knew at a similar age, whether that was last year, 10 years ago, or  30 years ago. Probably most recognizable is the character of Bobby Joe Hill (Derek Luke. Antwone Fisher, Friday Night Lights) a key player from Detroit who is the only member of the team, if I'm not mistaken, who is deceased.

Jon Voight (Midnight Cowboy) makes an appearance as the legendary Adolph Rupp, a giant among college coaches who was long thought to be a racist and did not integrate the Kentucky team until the 1970's. The movie does not dwell on the racism or problems the team faced, in fact, in my opinion, it could have been dealt with much more. Instead, we see good side story lines about the health and commitment to academics of the players and their families.

Josh Lucas is superb as Don Haskins, the only drawback being that he is obviously much, much smaller than the real Haskins. His portrayal of the coach grabs you from the first scene, and his intensity does not let up. 

The film is fast moving, with no lulls in the story or wasted scenes. The finale against the Kentucky is well shot and basketball fans will appreciate that the action passes as legitimate major college action. Gartner takes some license especially in the final, the film has it going down to the wire with Texas Western staging a comeback in the final two minutes, while in reality Texas Western led by double digits through most of the second half and the game did not go down to the last minute.

If you see this on DVD, there are some wonderful special features on the real players, as well as Coach Haskins who consulted on the film. A nice feel good, sports movie with a story that many of us already know, or can figure out as we've seen similar things before. But, the reason that sports films are so often winners is because we like to see the struggle that leads up to the ultimate victory (or heartbreaking defeat), and it works again here. You'll see shades of Miracle, Hoosiers, and Remember the Titans here. If you love basketball at all, you owe it yourself to check this out, even if you are not into the old time stuff. (The presence of Pat Riley-the current Miami Heat President-as a character in the film as the Kentucky star will make it more modern to you).

I don't know that Glory Road is the best sports movie you'll ever see, but it will be in most people's top ten.

Directed by D.J. Caruso. Starring Al Pacino, Matthew McConaughey, Rene Russo, Armand Assante, Jeremy Piven, Jamie King. Synopsis: A small time football handicapper, and injured former college football QB, gets  recruited to New York City by the owner of a highly touted sports tout service to be its new Golden Boy. While there, he is faced with fickle nature of his success in his profession and the riches it brings him. Drama.

This movie literally called out to me. Consider this: I'm a huge sports fan, a huge Al Pacino fan, like MCounaughey and Russo, and love to bet (legally) on sports. There was absolutely zero chance that I was not going to see this flick. Of course, when you look so forward to seeing any particular movie, no matter what the reason, the potential for the disappointment factor rockets up quite a bit.

Two for the Money is no disappointment, folks. The topic of sports gambling is, in my opinion, just the backdrop of this film as its really about naked ambition, the price of huge success, and dealing with personal demons. The movie is inspired by a true story, and don't get me wrong, there is enough there to satisfy those that want to see a sports movie, the gambling element and the dialogue are righteous, you will really believe these guys are in the business if you have ever dabbled in sports betting off shore or in Vegas, but saying this movie is about sports or sports betting is, to me, like saying General Hospital was about the medical profession. Not really.

Brandon Lang (McConaughey Failure To Launch, Amistad) is a college QB who lives for sports and his football career until he suffers a major knee injury that shatters his professional football dreams, not that he gives up easily, keeping himself in shape and begging anyone and everyone for a tryout. (There is a wonderful line in these opening minutes as McConaughey narrates that goes something like this "And, it didn't take long, but one day six years had passed..." Some of us know exactly how true that can be) Anyway, in addition to keeping shape, Brandon needs money to help his struggling family and has a collection of Las Vegas style jobs, working for 900 numbers and such, when it becomes apparent that he has a real talent for making sports picks.

One day, out of the blue, he gets an inviting offer from Walter Abrams (Pacino The Devil's Advocate, Cruising) who runs a highly successful sports touting service for gamblers and wants to give Brandon a shot. You know what comes next, the wide eyed, yet confident, young guy going to the Big Apple for the first time, awed by the plush Manhattan surroundings and the opportunity, not to mention smitten-a little bit-with the big man's wife (Russo Get Shorty, Ransom).

Abrams transforms Brandon into a smooth talking, telegenic, gem of a sports touter called John Anthony, and, initially, Brandon, more than earns his keep. But, as those of us who gamble on anything will know, losses are inevitable in the long run, and the clients are paying Brandon and Walter for the false hope of a sure thing. The clients are serious, big money players who don't pay for losing advice, such as the superrich client in San Juan (Armand Assante Q & A) who bet a million a game and expect to win.

The heart of the story is the relationship between Abrams and Brandon, moving between friends, to mentor-protege, to competitors, to nemesis and back again. Pacino, of course, is wonderful, stealing the screen with his manic portrayal of Abrams, a man who has made a mint and seems determined to lose it all, the former gambling addict who has stopped but now runs a tout service, a man who obviously has an eye for young ladies, but is maniacally faithful and devoted to his wife and daughter. Its hard for any actor to not disappear on screen next to Pacino, but McConaughey does well here, again realizing that his character is supposed to be a little intimidated by Abrams.

Russo is, as we know, good enough to carry the story herself, but does not have to here, but does well as the epitome of middle age beauty and class, even though she is playing a recovering drug addict.

Also, there are two real good supporting performances, one from Jeremy Piven as the displaced favorite of Walter when Brandon arrives, another by Assante as the filthy rich bettor. Jaime King (Sin City) makes an appearance as Brandon's main object of desire ( I did not say "affection") and succeeds, but she had little to do in the way of advancing the story or showing her considerable acting talent. She was there for eye candy and it worked.

Overall, Two for the Money, is an entertaining movie that does not break any new ground, but good movies do not have to, in my book. Pacino, alone, is worth this movie, and the story is good as well, though I would have liked a little more originality in the ending. There are some very good and interesting special features for those who pick this up on DVD.

A good flick that makes it to my favorites.

For what that is worth.